Simon Reicher raced his first GT World Challenge Europe event last weekend (May 28–29). The GT Championship took place in Le Castellet on the 5,791-meter-long Circuit Paul Ricard located in Southern France. The young Austrian only knew this track from its blueprints and the simulator. “It’s a great circuit and a lot of fun to drive. The track is extremely tricky due to its size. The asphalt is so wide that you have difficulties finding the right racing line. It’s a shock at first because you don’t know where to go. Definitely a challenge,” reports the 21-year-old.

Simon Reicher and his two Car Collection teammates, the Dutchman Milan Dontje and the German Patrick Kolb, first had to find the perfect setup suitable for all three drivers. Reicher knows the Audi R8 LMS sportscar well from various 12- and 24-hour races. But after the first few laps on track, it became clear that Reicher “…imagined this to be a little different”. The reason for Reicher’s surprise was quickly identified. The #24 Car Collection Audi was the slowest car in the field of 47 GT3 cars. “Ok – the GT World Challenge Europe is the Champions League of GT3 sports. It simply does not compare to the GT Masters. If you take a look at the entry list for the GT World Challenge Europe, you find the very best GT3 teams and drivers.”

The weekend in numbers. 47^th position in the first free practice. 47^th in pre-qualifying and positions 43, 45, and 47 throughout the three qualifying sessions. This resulted in starting position 47 for the 1,000-kilometer race on Saturday.

“This was a weekend to forget. Of the three of us, Milan was two seconds slower than the fastest, Patrick and I three seconds. I can’t even say what exactly went wrong. It must be a mix of several issues. Certainly, I was a factor too. Nonetheless, it was an important learning experience for me. A clever racing strategy and staying out of unnecessary duels can be very effective: We moved up bit by bit and ended up in 33^rd position,” summarizes the Austrian.

Simon Reicher’s next stop is his home race. The Red Bull Ring will soon host the ADAC GT Masters. Just a few miles away from his grandparents, the ambitious student and his team YACO Racing will fight for valuable championship points. The event will take place June 11-13 with 3,000 spectators each day at the circuit. “I’m really looking forward to welcoming our fans to the track again!”